Chapter 89: Private Jet
Later that day, Gloria, Jay, and I were at Mitchell and Cam's house, talking to them before our trip.
"Best thing I ever did was quit a miserable job and start my own business," Jay declared, after hearing Mitchell admit he had quit a job he hated.
"Thanks, Dad," he replied without much enthusiasm.
"No, it's not gonna be easy," Jay continued. "That's why Gloria and I wanna give you a little something to help you through it."
"No, Dad, I can't," Mitchell refused.
But Jay insisted, "No. I want to, Mitch."
"Okay, but as soon as I'm back on my feet, I really want to-" he began, but then noticed what his father was actually handing him: the framed redwood tree with the quote What doesn't kill us makes us stronger (the one he wanted to give to Manny).
Not exactly what he was expecting...
"Oh, Dad. No. You-" Mitchell stuttered, "you tried to give me this 20 years ago when my pet snake died - Zsa Zsa Gaboa."
"Zsa Zsa Gaboa," Gloria muttered, then whispered to Jay, "And you really didn't know he was gay?" she deadpanned.
I raised an eyebrow. I have no idea who she was...
"I must've, right?" Jay murmured back, then stood up. "You coming with us?" asked to me.
"No, I'm heading to Summer's place in a bit. My bags are already in the trunk, so I'm going straight from there," I replied, and we said our goodbyes as he and Gloria left.
"Hey Mitch, can we talk?" I approached. Cam had gone to bathe Lily.
"Sure," he nodded.
"I also want to give you something," I mentioned, pulling a folded sheet. "It's a poem - to keep you strong."
He rolled his eyes, but took it anyway and opened it.
Mitchell frozen. "Jake, this is too much, I can't accept it," he said, realizing that inside the paper was a check with 200 grand.
"Keep it," I insisted. "I'm loaded, Mitch, you can accept it. I know you're a good person, just a bit neurotic."
"With this money, you can take some time with Lily and look for what you actually enjoy doing. I'm not old school like your dad - I think you can learn without needing to get beaten up by life every time.
And also, so you don't spend the whole trip worrying, and can actually enjoy it in peace"
He didn't know how to react, and I finished, "I came to add to the family, not to take anyone's place."
I know Mitchell sometimes envies my relationship with Jay. After all, Jay can be really insensitive, and treat me very openly as if I were the son he wishes he'd had.
"This is so beautiful!" Cam, who had heard the last part, squealed in a high pitch, already holding a tissue to wipe his tears.
-----------------------------
At night, the whole family was gathered to go to Boston for St. Patrick's Day and other attractions.
Since March 17 fell on a Wednesday, some had to request a three-day leave or skip school (much to Luke and Jake's delight), since it wasn't a holiday - and because we planned to stay until Sunday.
We were flying on a private jet.
Cam, Mitchell, and Alan were sitting together, talking about God-knows-what. Uncle Alan seemed particularly interested in the subject.
Phil was with Luke, Manny, and Jake, while Alex was reading The Fault in Our Stars beside them.
Charlie and Jay were drinking a very nice bourbon. Claire and Gloria were having wine. Claire was visibly agitated.
"Wow, there's never any poverty with you, Jake," Alex Kelly commented, slightly uncomfortable.
"Alex, if you feel bad about everything being paid for, you can take care of Lily," I handed the baby to her.
She took her, but eyed me suspiciously. "Why am I not surprised?" she remarked, after noticing Lily didn't smell very pleasant.
"What?" Summer, who was next to me, asked.
I answered, "She needs a change."
"Eww," my girlfriend reacted, just like Haley did, right in front of her.
"You guys are unbelievable," Marissa rolled her eyes, "give her here."
And we stared at her in disbelief, since she changed the baby with no problem at all.
"What?"
"Living and learning," I raised an eyebrow, "you would've been one of the last people on my list to ask for help with a diaper."
She just made a face at me, and explained, "I did babysitting a few times."
Summer wondered, "What would be your diaper-ranking?"
"Hm," I thought, "you, Haley, and Dad would definitely be at the bottom. Gloria, Cam, and Claire would be the top."
"What about Cam?" Mitchell approached, since he had just watched Lily being changed.
"We were talking about changing diapers, and he'd be at the top, right next to Claire and Gloria," I revealed.
Mitchell, who was inspecting Lily, looked slightly offended. "What about me?"
"You? You're a bit snobby and squeamish - you'd be just slightly above me," I replied honestly.
"Hey!" Mitchell exclaimed
But then, he got a bit uncomfortable, probably about what he was going to ask in the first place.
"Come on, Mitch, we're family here," I looked at him
"Uh, Jake, is everything..." He paused, "really included?"
"Yeah," I confirmed again, "this plane belongs to a friend of mine. He told us to make ourselves at home. Just order anything you want from the menu."
"Wow, you need to introduce this friend to us," Mitchell muttered, walking away with Lily in his arms.
Seth, who was sitting on the other side of me, asked, "Who is he? Do we know him?"
Ryan couldn't come since he had a commitment in Chino over the weekend. Taylor was going with him.
"Paul Allen," I revealed, and Seth's eyes almost popped out.
"The same guy who got us that reservation on Valentine's Day?" Marissa recalled.
"Yes. We kind of became friends," I nodded.
"Paul Allen. The Paul Allen??" Seth freaked out.
"Yep, exactly the Paul you're thinking of," I acknowledged.
"Really??"
"He loves science. He's someone who enjoys discovering new things, especially pioneering ones, and he had the mind of a researcher," I explained.
We often have long conversations. Paul is someone with high cognitive capacity, and broad knowledge.
"Okay, could you explain what is happening?" Summer intervened.
"You don't know him??" Seth reacted even more, and seeing Haley, Coop and Alex's confused faces, he scoffed. "That's Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft."
"And one of the richest people in the world," I added, "his net worth was estimated at 21 billion dollars by Forbes, 5th richest at the time."
Fifteen times more than I have - and that's Forbes' calculation.
The four of them stared at me as if I had grown an extra head.
-----------------------------
Hey guys! I'm traveling, and I only had stockpiled chaps of my new fic. I'm trying to work on this one, but it hasn't been easy during the trip.
Probably next Saturday I'll release the new fic here.
If you enjoy it, please leave a Review and Power Stones
You can also support me on patreon and read up to 30 chapters ahead, plus 28 chapters of my new Fic (Sitcom Family: Daniel Harper)
@treon.com/Japa_Madrid